Cocoon is located in Zurich's Seefeld district on a beautiful hillside, which enjoys excellent lake and mountain views. The location's distinctive flair stems from the exceptional park-like setting – a green oasis into which Cocoon snugly nestles. Flanked on three sides by mighty, age-old trees the elliptical structure reads as a freestanding sculptural volume that gracefully spirals up from the park. The stainless steel mesh enveloping the building combines visual privacy with restrained elegance, while establishing a strong and unmistakable presence.

Innovative interior and interaction with surrounding

The bold stand-alone building embodies an innovative conception of interior spatial organization and interaction with the surrounding environment. In doing so, it caters for a wide variety of workplace and occupancy concepts. With its spiral massing, Cocoon may be conceived as a sort of "communication landscape" that creates a unique spatial configuration and working environment in a matchless setting. The stepped, upward-winding sequence of segments also shapes the character of the building interior. All spaces are arranged along a gently rising ramp, which wraps around a central, light-flooded atrium. The space-planning concept dispenses with the traditional division into horizontal storeys in favour of a seemingly endless sequence of elliptical floor segments. By eliminating the usual barriers to communication, this generates a unique spatial experience and working environment that unlocks a host of intriguing possibilities for interaction and co-operation. The floor space design is occupancy-neutral and provides for fully flexible partitioning together with the adaptability necessary to meet the shifting needs of future users. Together, the various elements – lift, spiral ramp, segments and stairwell – constitute a clearly structured, versatile circulation system that provides for both the desired interaction and the necessary flexibility to accommodate alternative uses.

Internally, a light-flooded, upwardly widening atrium forms the centrepiece of Cocoon. Around this, the circulation and communication ramp winds its way upwards in gently curving contours, to provide a fluid link between all the internal spaces. Internally, as the ellipses expand with each turn of the spiral, the skylight void opens up in a stunning spectacle. Externally, the building adopts the guise of a dynamic, upward-reaching sculpture. The dramatic atrium, with its wealth of internal visual links, generates a natural ambience conducive to communication and a sense of community.

Clearly articulated infrastructure

The Terraced segmentation within the building section allows for a completely new, extended three-dimensional interaction. The building evolves into a three-dimensional network, a compacted information market place of diversely, flexible programmable and reversible surfaces. The complete freedom to define the usage and layout of each segmented floor allows the possibility for each segment to create its own unique identity and are neutrally constructed allowing for maximum flexibility. This ensures extensive divisibility as well as an optimal adaptability to any changing future requirements and needs. The combined unity of the components – lift, spiral ramp, stairwell, segments – define a clearly articulated well-rounded infrastructure and therewith the precondition for interaction and flexibility in a dynamic changeable sphere.

The facade assembly consciously adds a note of subtlety and sophistication to the overall composition. The building is wrapped in a fine, almost scaly veil of stainless steel wire mesh. This curtain curls elegantly upwards in soft lines along the expanding spiral, its junction with the roof terrace accentuated by an open facade frame.The shrouded, sculptural stand-alone building, introverted during the daytime as it looks inwards towards the atrium, is recast in the evening hours as a transparent shining beacon. Cocoon uses an Air-source heat pump system for environmentally friendly heating and cooling.